September 9, 2012 AT 12:01 am

Happy Birthday, Dennis Ritchie!

You might recall that Dennis Ritchie passed away a little under a year ago, in October 2011. The world lost a giant of computing, and many of us lost a hero and role model. Ritchie was born on September 9th, 1941 — 71 years ago today. I thought it would be fitting that we take a moment to celebrate his accomplishments and his gifts to the world, and say thanks.

I also thought we should celebrate his fun side a little bit, so I’m reposting this video I shared back in 2010. In it, Dennis and his colleagues enlist the help of Penn & Teller to prank their boss, Nobel Laureat Arno Penzias.

"When you make a thing, a thing that is new, it is so complicated making it that it is bound to be ugly. But those that make it after you, they don’t have to worry about making it. And they can make it pretty, and so everybody can like it when others make it after you" - Pablo Picasso